


Numbers

by superhusbands



Category: Big Brother - Fandom, Big Brother RPF
Genre: Big Brother, Gen, M/M, life after eviction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2014-08-27
Packaged: 2018-02-15 01:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2210475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superhusbands/pseuds/superhusbands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That was another drawback of living in the jury house. All you had was time, and with no goal of winning 500k in sight, you had a lot of time to think about your untimely demise from the show. Jocasta was pretty positive, figured her eviction was all part of God's big plan, but he and Hayden spent a lot of time talking about the backstabbers who had sent them packing. It was hard not to be bitter and the more he thought about it, the angrier and more resentful he got. It had been his fault, and his mouth had gotten him in trouble, but the fact of the matter was that despite how often he'd put himself out there to try to help Frankie, his supposed best friend in the house hadn't done the same. He'd, in fact, been the one to put the final nail in his coffin. </p><p>So, yes, maybe Zach was starting to get a little bitter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Numbers

Despite the fact that he was out of the Big Brother house now, Zach hadn't gotten out of the habit of counting the days. He'd exited the house on day 63, and had found himself walking into the jury house on day 65. They'd kept him in sequester for a day after leaving the house, mostly for interviews and segments for the show, and it had been so late on day 64 that he could hardly count that as a day inside of the house. Now it was day 69, and tomorrow someone would be leaving the house and joining them. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, to be honest, and who he even wanted to see walk through those doors. A vindictive part of himself wanted to see Victoria walk in, mostly so he could give her hell about ruining his hat, but he knew there was no chance in hell of that happening. She might not be playing the game, but she'd make it a hell of a lot further than he would-- they'd drag her to the end and then cut her at the last second, because there was no way in hell she'd win anything. Even if she got to the final 2, she wouldn't win. Zach would vote for anyone over her, literally anyone. Hell, he'd vote for Joey, or Zingbot, over Victoria. Except maybe Frankie.

That was another drawback of living in the jury house. All you had was time, and with no goal of winning 500k in sight, you had a lot of time to think about your untimely demise from the show. Jocasta was pretty positive, figured her eviction was all part of God's big plan, but he and Hayden spent a lot of time talking about the backstabbers who had sent them packing. It was hard not to be bitter and the more he thought about it, the angrier and more resentful he got. It had been his fault, and his mouth had gotten him in trouble, but the fact of the matter was that despite how often he'd put himself out there to try to help Frankie, his supposed best friend in the house hadn't done the same. He'd, in fact, been the one to put the final nail in his coffin. So, yes, maybe Zach was starting to get a little bitter. Suffice to say, he was going to be pissed no matter who walked through that door. The only person he even remotely wanted to see was Donny, but at the same time he didn't because that would mean that Donny was out of the game and the people who'd stabbed him in the back were another step closer to the money. 

***

Predictably, on day 70, Donny walked through the door with an exasperated look on his face, and a new DVD for them to watch. He welcomed him with a hug and laughed along with the clips on the DVD, but it still felt surreal to him. A week ago he'd been in the house, and now he was on the outside looking in, watching everything go on without him. It was weirder than he'd thought. Despite how weird it was, he couldn't help but pick up on little things he'd never noticed in the house. Derrick was running everyone. Cody was the HoH, yet Derrick decided who went home. If it wasn't for Derrick, there was a very good chance that Frankie would have been the one walking in through the door that week. 

"He;s playing 'em all." Donny said with a shake of his head, the disappointment evident on his face. "There's no reasoning with any of 'em, they can't even see it. Original thought ain't going on in that house." 

It wasn't just Derrick that he took notice of, unfortunately. Caleb seemed even more obnoxious than ever, probably determined to take over the role of the entertainer now that he was wrong, and Victoria and Christine seemed to be incapable of talking about anything but him. The little segment that they'd gathered of all of the houseguests talking about him was amusing but at the same time-- if they'd fucking missed him so much, maybe they shouldn't have voted him out. He also noticed that Frankie didn't seem quite as on as he normally was, as recharged and energetic, but he pushed those thoughts away. He didn't give a fuck about Frankie as a game player anymore. Outside the house? Maybe they'd be friends, maybe they wouldn't. He wasn't so sure anymore, but he was pretty sure distance from each other certainly wasn't helping them any. Given too much time to think, and the mind could turn against you. 

***

Donny liked talking numbers. For two people who had never actually had numbers in the house, they were good at pinpointing who was with who, and when certain things happened. Donny knew more than they'd given him credit for, and between the two of them and Hayden, they figured they just about had it worked out. Cody and Derrick were clearly working together, and Christine and Victoria were being strung along with them. Frankie seemed to be working with Caleb, or at least he was stringing him along and the other man was fine with it because associating with Frankie was like, in Caleb's mind, hitching yourself to a celebrity. 

By the time day 77 rolled around, they were ready for someone else to walk through the door to confirm or deny their theories. They were all happy to see Christine walk in-- not because they liked her, by any stretch of the means, but because Nicole had pulled through. Despite the differences he'd had with her in the house, he wanted her to take them all down. Nicole had won HoH that week and had put up Christine and Frankie. Frankie won the veto and saved himself, which left Nicole no choice but to throw up one of the detonators beside her. There was no point in nominating Victoria, it would have been a wasted HoH. Christine vs Cody had been no competition, and Christine was sent packing. Nicole would surely be next, unless she won a veto comp, but for the moment it didn't matter. Little victories. 

Not surprisingly, Christine and Zach didn't get along. He thought that maybe when they were outside of the house they wouldn't antagonize each other so much, but he was completely wrong. She spent most of her time by herself, because the rest of them didn't have much to say to her. She'd burned all of those bridges before they'd left the house. Zach lived to rile her up, but that was about it. 

***

Day 85 was when things started getting interesting. They were well aware that the season had to be drawing close to the end, it was September now, but there were still so many people left in that house. It was Hayden who decided that there had to be a double eviction coming up, but Zach wasn't so sure. Time seemed to pass so slowly when they were out of the house, even more so than the down days in between competitions, so he was pretty sure it would never end. 

Nicole walked back in on Day 86, and despite how bummed she was about getting voted out again, you couldn't help but notice how bright she smiled when Hayden wrapped his arms around her and swung her around. It would have been cute if it hadn't ensured that his hangout buddy would essentially be attached at the lips with someone else for the next couple of weeks. It had been awesome broing out with Hayden after hours, when Jocasta and Donny went down for the night. He was resolved to a life torturing Christine, when a wrench was thrown into his Jury house life. 

There had been a double eviction. Frankie was the 12th person evicted, and the 7th member of the jury. 

He thought that he'd prepared himself for the day that Frankie would walk through those doors, but no amount of preparation could have left him feeling ready. It was like all of the air had left the room, or someone had punched him in the stomach, and he was left reeling. Everyone was hugging, like nothing had changed, but he lingered at the back. He was the last person to move forward, and he hugged him quickly before pulling away. He caught the pained look on Frankie's face but it disappeared so quickly that he was sure he had imagined it.

With Frankie's eviction came another tape, and he was surprised at how vicious it had been. Unlike last week, when Nicole had known she was going as soon as she went on the block, Frankie had been presumably safe until the last second. Caleb had won HoH, and he'd nominated Cody and Victoria with every intention of sending Victoria home... until Derrick and Cody convinced him it would be better for his game to send Frankie home. Cody had won the veto, pulled himself off, and Frankie was put up as the replacement. Cody and Derrick were the only two people that could vote, and it was unanimous to send Frankie home. 

Zach almost felt bad for him. Almost. If anyone knew the sting of your alliance turning on you and sending you packing, it was him. At least he'd had time to deal with it before he'd been shoved out the door; Frankie hadn't. He hadn't even dressed up for his eviction, and had gone out to meet Julie with his hair in a disarray and one of Cody's shirts on.

"The joke's on him." Frankie had remarked, a smile on his face that didn't quite meet his eyes. "He'd never getting this shirt back."

After they'd watched the DVD and everyone had gone their separate ways, Zach had gone straight out into the backyard. The house suddenly felt small and stifling, and he needed the fresh air. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting out on the patio swing when he felt the cushion dip beside him, surprised to see Nicole sitting beside him.

"Shouldn't you be making out with your boyfriend somewhere?" He said with a raised eyebrow, making a kissy noise and then laughing when Nicole smacked him.

"Zach! Stop that!" She didn't deny his words though, simply shooting him a look. "I wanted to talk to you. About Frankie--"

"Did he say something to you? If he wants to talk to me, he knows how to find me." He rolled his eyes. "What is this, middle school?"

"No. He didn't say anything." Nicole shot hin a pointed look. "But it doesn't take a genius to see how awkward you two were with each other earlier. I thought you guys were cool after you left?"

"We were." He shrugged, fingers running through his hair. It was starting to get long again, and he resented Victoria for ruining the hat that he would have loved to cover it up with. "I don't know. Too much time to fucking think in here, you know? He had my game in the palm of his hand, and he dropped it. I'm here 'cuz of him... well, you know..." He frowned. "Not entirely, but he put me up."

"He did." Nicole agreed, quirking an eyebrow. "But the game's over now. None of us won... we're all in the same boat now. What's the point of staying angry about it?" She shrugged, standing up as she brushed her shorts off, looking like she was thinking about something but wasn't sure if she wanted to say it. "I know I'm not like, the best at reading people, but Zach... I don't think you're mad at him for voting you out.... just talk to him."

She went inside after that, and Zach huffed in exasperation, not sure what she was getting at... or choosing to ignore it, for his own sanity.He stayed outside for a few minutes longer before going inside, his eyes darting over to the closed door to Frankie's room before going into his own, shutting it behind himself.

***

Surprisingly, he was the first person up the next day. Donny had actually started sleeping in now that they were in the jury house, so at 10am it was usually pretty deserted. He'd tried to go back to sleep, but the sun was streaming in and heating up the room, and it was almost unbearable. He padded into the kitchen, rubbing at his bleary eyes, as he deposited himself on a stool and waited for the coffee maker to roar to life. He'd never been much for coffee on the outside, but ever since he'd walked in those doors, he'd been pretty fond of it. Sometimes he had four cups by noon, enough to get his energy levels up. 

He got up when the coffee maker went off, pacing for a few moments before stopping and pouring himself a cup. He was still in activity mode, where he needed to be constantly moving to get his activity tracker beeping. Despite being out of the house for a couple weeks now, the motions were ingrained in his being. He was pretty sure that he'd even continue doing it outside the house, when they were back to the lives they'd left behind.

Thinking about the real world was a complicated thing, and he tried to avoid doing it. He was ready to go home, to see his parents and Peyton again, but at the same time... everything was going to be different. People were going to recognize him on the streets, and every little thing he'd ever said was probably being dissected on Jokers and Hamster Watch. He thought it was cool that people liked him, and he'd probably have a hell of a lot of twitter followers to entertain, but it was still overwhelming to think. He wondered if this was what it felt like to be Frankie, but he pushed those thoughts away. He wasn't ready to think about his possibly former friend. 

But as always when it came to Big Brother, luck was not on his side, and Frankie padded into the kitchen five minutes later. He looked wrecked, like he hadn't slept a wink, and he poured himself a cup of coffee and leaned up against the counter beside Zach. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn't, and just as Zach moved to leave the room, he finally heard him speak.

"You hate me, don't you?"

Zach turned around and frowned, not sure what to say to that before finally shaking his head, running his fingers through his hair as he spoke. "No. Just kinda mad at you... or mad at me, I don't fucking know anymore, man. It's weird seeing you here. I had a couple weeks to get pissed again, and now you're here and it's like... I dunno."

"It's weird being here." Frankie admitted, taking a sip from his mug before putting it down. "Not because I got evicted, but because I'm here before Victoria." He snickered at that, and Zach couldn't help but join in with him. "But... it's good to see you again. Really, really good..." He put the mug down, his arms wrapping around Zach as he held him close. Like they'd been separated for years, and were finally able to be together again. "Missed you."

The second that Frankie's arms wrapped around him, Zach felt a tension that he hadn't known was weighing on him slip away. He hugged him back, his palm pressed against Frankie's lower back, as he swallowed thickly. "Missed you too, bro." He pulled away after a moment, still fairly close to him, as he pressed his forehead against Frankie's and cracked a smile. "Zankie forever?"

"Forever." Frankie agreed, a low laugh slipping from between his lips as he pulled back, tapping Zach on the ass playfully. "And one day, when you realize you're madly, crazy, in love with me, we'll look back on this and say it made us stronger."

Zach laughed, but a part of him twisted and curled in on itself. He'd been pushing his feelings away for weeks, and he was sure it had to be written all over his face. But if Frankie wasn't calling him out on it, he'd leave them where they were... at least for now. He wasn't ready to deal with that yet. It was too soon. "Maybe one day." He shot him a wink, wrapping an arm around Frankie's shoulders and leaning into him, mumbling a little quieter before pulling away. "Maybe sooner than you think." He coughed, clearing his throat before holding his hand out. "Come kick my ass in pool? Or, hey, maybe let me win. Just this once."

"Not a chance, Rance."


End file.
